


Hawk Moth is...

by SparklyAxolotl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparklyAxolotl/pseuds/SparklyAxolotl
Summary: The class has to do presentations about different types of News Media, and Marinette and Juleka assignment is to do a Tabloid, so they do their presentation on the most ridiculous thing they could think of: That Lila is Hawk Moth
Comments: 89
Kudos: 772





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got inspired and decided to write the Wackynette Story of “HawkMoth is” where Marinette does a presentation about why and how Lila is secretly Hawk Moth (Her assignment was to do tabloid news)
> 
> Also got inspired by @Rarity36 comic about the same thing, thank you!
> 
> semi salt, but not really.

**_Hawk Moth Is..._ **

**_Or the Dangers of Assigning a Tabloid Report to Very Smart Students_ **

The day started ordinary for the Class of Miss Bustier. Today lesson was on News and how they can be shared. To make the lesson a bit more fun, after they had covered all of them, the teacher had decided to assign each pair of student to investigate a current event and make a presentation in the style of said event. Lila immediately asked Alya to be her partner.

“Oh, we can dress up as journalists and make our presentation as something worth of a Newspaper!”

“But Miss Bustier” Marinette spoke up. “There are 15 of us, and the assignment is on pairs… one of us will be left on its own”

“Oh, don’t worry Marinette, I’m sure whoever that is can make a wonderful job on their own!” replied Lila with fake sweetness. Of course that with her claiming Alya, it was highly likely that Marinette would be left on her own. Marinette just glared at her. “Don’t get mad at me, I’m only joking!” Lila added with more fake sweetness. Alya giggled.

“I’ll be sure to make things fair. For starters, I’m making the pairs” she looked around the class, who groaned. “And I’m also assigning what kind of media will each do”

Miss Bustier took a small glass bowl from under her desk, along with a hat; both seemed to be filled with papers.

“Now, I’m going to take out your names from this bowl to make the pairs so everything is fair. No changes or substitutions are allowed, all pairs are final” she grabbed the hat. “And this hat has all the different media we saw, to make everything fair, it will be also random”

Marinette was one of the last chosen, and she was paired with Juleka, to work on a tabloid. Lila snickered, and Alya gave Marinette her condolences for having to work on “fake news”

At the end, only Adrien, Lila and Chloe were unpaired. Marinette felt a bit bad for hoping that Adrien would be on his own, but then a Christmas Miracle happened…

“Only three people…” Miss Bustier took one of the papers left “Adrien with” Marinette held her breath, as did the other two girls. “Huh… Markov? I don’t remember putting his name here…”

“No charges or substitutions allowed, all pairs are final” Markov played a recording of Miss Bustier. She just shrugged.

“Well, I did say that. Adrien, you’re with Markov. Lila and Chloe, you’re the last pair”

The two girls looked at each other, mouths agape. Even with Markov lacking a face, they could swear he was grinning at them.

“Good luck on your presentation” called Marinette to Lila and Chloe after the day was over.

Working with Juleka was a blast, even without taking in account that they also worked on her room, which meant Luka was present sometimes. They actually came to the realization that working on a tabloid would be easier than what their classmates had gotten, as it meant that they would only need to think on something current, and then lie their asses off in a sensationalistic way.

So of course they choose the most unbelievable thing they could, and went from there.

-

The day of the presentation came, with Chloe and Lila presenting something worth of a news show, and that was obviously made by professionals that Chloe’s dad paid. However, they forgot to cite their sources, so Miss Bustier had to take off some points of their grade.

“Marinette and Juleka are next, their theme is a tabloid”

The two girls stood up from their respective seats. Like Chloe and Lila before them, they were dressed in pantsuits that no doubt Marinette had designed, Juleka with her a dark purple that almost seemed black, with a textured fabric that looked like giant feathers, Marinette with a soft pink one that it took the others a double take to realize the blazer was simulating a skirt. Even Chloe seemed impressed.

“Yes, yes. Hello everyone, as you know, the Tabloid is a type of newspaper that is smaller, and covers more sensationalistic stories, celebrity gossip and such, most of their stories are dubious or outright fake.”

“They are famous in the states for reporting Bigfoot and UFOS, for example”

“So today, our news is the most unbelievable thing we could think of!”

Marinette pressed a button on her tablet, and the screen behind them appeared, it looked like the cover of a tabloid, with sensationalistic views talking about monster sightings, Andre the Ice cream man being secretly a spy, Luka being a vampire and other nonsense the girls could think of. The biggest font and the main news red “We discovered the identity of Hawk Moth!!!!”

“First of all, we want to thank Nathaniel for taking time of his own project to help us with the illustrations for ours”

“You’re welcome!” said the boy, who was also wearing a dark red suit, also designed by Marinette. Kim, his partner, was equally dressed, with his vest and pants being a weird shade of brown.

“Without further ado…”

“EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!” yelled both girl at the same time. Marinette pressed the tablet again, and the screen changed.

“Exclusive news, ladies and gentlemen! We have discovered the identity of Paris Number One Criminal! The one and only Hawk Moth!” Juleka said quickly in an excitable voice that everyone found uncharacteristically of her. Miss Bustier smiled, knowing that Marinette was being a good example for her. Everyone gasped, forgetting it was tabloid news.

The next screen had a very cool illustration of someone transforming into Hawk Moth. Everyone immediately knew who it was meant to be.

“WHAT? Marinette!” Alya protested, surprising no one. Except maybe Lila. “That is slander! There is no way Lila is Hawk Moth!” she turned to their teacher. “Miss Bustier, you can’t possibly allow Marinette to continue!”

“Actually, it was my idea” said Juleka, much more meekly than before. Miss Bustier frowned and looked sternly at Alya.

“We are supposed to do a tabloid, so of course we are doing something bogus and ridiculous. Besides, Lila knows we are only joking” Marinette winked at the rest of the class, who all laughed making Lila furious

“They are right. Statistically speaking, tabloid news are very likely to be fake news, or greatly exaggerated ones.”

“Thank you Max” said Miss Bustier. “Girls, you may continue with your presentation”

“Thanks!” Marinette pressed another button, and it was Lila as Volpina. “As we all know, Lila was akumatized the first day she started class with us, and...”

“That proves she’s not Hawk Moth! She can’t be akumatized and be hawk moth at the same time!” Alya practically jumped out of her seat. Miss Bustier looked at her disappointed. Marinette looked at her, but ignored her comment.

“As we all know, the power of Volpina dealt with Illusions, and one of her illusions was, precisely, that of Hawk Moth appearing in plain sight”

“Now, you are wondering, why is that important?” several classmates nodded. “Because up to that point, we had only seen Hawk Moth’s head made of butterflies back on the Stone Heart incident, and we didn’t see the actual Hawk Moth until much later, on Heroes day” Marinette pressed a button, and an image of the head of Hawk Moth made of butterflies appeared, along with a blurry picture of hawk moth the day of Volpina, and another higher quality picture of Heroes Day, everything with their respective credits.

“So, I ask, how did Lila, AKA Volpina know how Hawk Moth looked, when no one else did?”

The class breaks in whispers. They seem to forget again that it is supposed to be fake news.

“But Hawk Moth is a guy! An adult man!”

“All the better to cover herself by pretending her alter ego to be of other gender and age. Something she can do as Volpina”

“And speaking of Volpina… do you know where she took that name from?” Most of the class shook their head. “Well, interesting fact! Adrien Abigail Agreste…”

“Please don’t use my middle name”

“Duly noted. Adrien Agreste brought a book from home the same day that Lila appeared…”

“Oh, and what did that book contained?”

“Excellent question Juleka! The book contained information on the Miraculous and their past holders, and it was actually the property of Adrien’s father, Mister Gabriel Abigail Agreste”

Adrien just head desked.

“And Lila grabbed the book for inspection. Adrien almost caught her, so she just threw the book on the thrash”

“That makes no sense, how would I know what it contained? Heck, how do you know?” Alya did notice that Lila had not denied that she had taken the book.

“My house is in front of the park. I saw you guys and thought I would approach and say hi.”

“Didn’t you say you were eavesdropping?”

“They were talking when I approached them, so technically, yeah.”

“Wait… you recovered the book from the thrash? You were the one to return it to my father?”

Marinette blushed a deep shade.

“What? You mean that part is real? Dupain-Cheng is the reason you returned to school?”

“Well, I’m not saying Lila did took my father’s book, but it disappeared _after_ she showed interest in it”

“I can’t believe you’re accusing me of…”

“We’re not, this is a tabloid, remember?”

“And continuing, Lila going abroad after that…”

“AHA! If Lila wasn’t here, it means she couldn’t have attacked! Seh was too far away!” Alya again almost jumped from her seat.

“I would like to remind everyone that we all went to space thanks to an akuma”

“Swimming in space was the best”

“So, Lila going abroad and then returning coincides with the appearance of Mayura, which can only mean that she went to search for the Peacock Miraculous”

“Right and I’m Mayura too?”

“That’s info for another article”

Kim raised his hand.

“We’re not making another article”

Kim lowered his hand, disappointed.

“So, like we were saying, it’s highly suspicious that Lila joined the class with a 90% akumatization rate”

“Actually, it’s 87.5% akumatization rate if we count Miss Bustier”

“We counted the doubles”

“Ah”

“Why would someone join the Akuma Class, if not for gain intel about how to get more akumas”

“Not to mention the other teachers and students that have been akumatized too. Our school is a focal point for akumas… almost like the akumas came from inside the school!”

Everyone went quiet, looking at Lila with dread. Even if Marinette and Juleka were joking, they were raising very fair points. Lila seemed to be contemplating this.

“And we all have been akumatized at one time or another.” Juleka eyed Marinette. “Well, most of us. And some of us have witnessed other people becoming akumas. A common thread is that Hawk Moth knows exactly what the person wants due to his empathy powers. And Lila is a good friend who always knows what to say to make us feel better. Coincidence? Or an innate ability granted by her miraculous?!”

Lila was wide eyed looking at the two in the front. Everyone else was whispering again.

“Of course, one of the most common symptoms post akumatization is the loss of memory of what one does as an akuma. So it stands to reason that Lila might not know that she is, in fact, Hawk Moth, especially if she akumatizes herself each time so Hawk Moth takes over"

“Any questions?”

Literally everyone raised their hand. Even Miss Bustier and Markov, despite him not having hands.

“Great! That concludes our presentation.”

“Excellent job girls, you get full marks!”

Marinette and Juleka high fived each other, and went to take their respective seats. Everyone kept staring at Lila. Nathaniel slided away from Lila so much he actually fell from his seat, landing on his butt. Lila was staring at her feet, having a bit of an existential crisis

“Adrien and Markov, you’re next”


	2. Mayura is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More class shenanigans! 
> 
> After them outing Lila as Hawk Moth, they decide to try and make lighting strike twice… and realize it was not possible 
> 
> Mainly because the writer is a hack and realized either the jokes would be the same, so he decided to go a different, and wackier route.

The week continued ordinary after Marinette and Juleka’s presentation. Well, as ordinary as it could be with Hawk Moth akumatizing someone every other day. The class had avoided Lila like the plague the first few days, but eventually settled back to their old routine after realizing how silly they were being for thinking one of their classmates could be Hawk Moth. Marinette had enjoyed it while it lasted.

“So, who’is Mayura?”

The question took Marinette by surprise, who stared a few seconds at Kim, unsure if she had heard right.

“What?” she asked in autopilot, her brain still trying to catch up with the question. She was still writing the homework that Miss Bustier had left for the weekend while some of the others had already left.

“Yeah, I figured that you and Juleka could do a presentation on your theories on Mayura”

Marinette looked surprised for a moment. “That was for school, Kim. And we specifically told you that we weren’t going to do another article”

Kim pouted like a small child. “ Awww, I was really looking forward to it”

Marinette blinked twice in slight confusion. Kim was just that adorable. If he made puppy eyes, she was doomed.

And then he made puppy eyes.

Doom.

Marinette sighed in defeat. She turned around to see who else was still in the classroom with them, until she landed on her next victim. Of course!

“Yo Alya, wanna be Mayura?”

Alya had just finished storing her stuff in her bag, and was as confused as Marinette had been a few seconds ago. And then she saw Kim.

“Huh… Sure? I guess” she said, not very sure. “Just promise you will not make me doubt my own sanity”

“Fine, I promise”

“I don’t” said Juleka casually, while passing in front of her friends.

Alya was about to protest to Marinette, but she was already gone. “I’m blaming you” she said to Kim, who only replied with a smile.

-

Monday arrived, and only Nathaniel, Kim and Alya knew why Marinette and Juleka were wearing their awesome business suit, Marinette now with her hair in a bun, and Juleka with a side braid that pulled her hair from her face. They arrived before school and started their presentation before class started, much to everyone’s surprise

(The surprise was that Marinette was early)

“Hello, Hello everyone!”

“And welcome back to our news, where you can learn everything about the current events!”

“As you all know, our edition from last week revealed the TRUEST identity of Hawk Moth!”

Lila blushed and covered her face with her hands, clearly embarrassed.

“And now, we have come here today to reveal her very one second in command!”

“Mayura!” they both said at the same time, revealing another drawing of Mayura.

“Once again we would like to thank Nathaniel for his sponsorship”

“Whatever you need for your crazy antics!” replied the tomato boy.

“So, who’s Mayura?” asked Kim from his seat, even though he already knew the answer.

“Mayura, the Peacock Miraculous holder, is none other than… Alya Cesaire!”

“WHAT?” was the general consensus of the class. Except Kim who said a “YAY”, and Alya who facepalmed, already regretting her consenting to this.

“SO! Does everyone remember the first time Hawk Moth attacked?”

“You mean Lila?” asked Kim, clearly too enthralled by the show.

“Yeah, her. Sorry” Lila facepalmed on her seat. Nathaniel slided away a little, this time being careful to not fall on his butt.

“Anyway, does anyone remember what else happened that day… something different from other days?”

“Chloe took your seat by bullying you?”

“She said differently” argued Chloe while filing her nails. “Pay attention Kim. She obviously mean she dared to stand up to me and my evil ways”

“And why I was able to do that?”

“Cesaire. Cesaire was the new girl” said Chloe a bit more surprised than she should, enough to stop filing her nails. She noticed and kept doing them.

“Yep! A new student whose first day happened to be the first time Hawk Moth attacked!”

“Coincidence? Or Hawk Moth’s second in command preparing the ground for a new Akumatization?”

“Wasn’t it actually Kim’s fault for Ivan getting mad? OH, Kim never apologized either. Sorry for getting you into trouble Ivan”

“No problem; that did eventually brought Mylene and me together.”

“So Kim was technically their…”

“Finish that pun and I’ll finish you”

“And wouldn’t it make more sense for Chloe to be Mayura?”

“GUYS! We’re trying to prove Alya is Mayura, regardless of how much other people fit that profile!”

“I mean, honestly guys, I take pride on being Queen Bee…”

“Trying to make a train crash notwithstanding…”

“I TAKE PRIDE in being Queen Bee. Me being Mayura or helping Hawk Moth makes absolute no sense and only a complete moron would think I could do that despite my admittedly spotty redemption”

“Point taken, moving on, Alya also makes sense as Mayura because… huh…”

“… Me appearing at the same time as Hawk Moth first attack was all you got, wasn’t it?”

“I mean, there’s also the fact that Mayura’s main color is blue and the peacock symbol is pretty much an eye, which fits the aesthetics of your boyfriend”

“Wait dude, I’m the one wearing the blue shirt with the creepy eye. Wouldn’t it be more logical for me to be Mayura?”

Marinette blinked twice at Nino statement. She recovered quickly.

“Bold of you to assume we were using logic”

“Touche”

“It would have made more sense” whispered Juleka. Marinette side eyed her.

“Ugh, this was easier with Lila”

“Wait, seriously? Your only proof was that I was new? So, if you’re implicating all the new kids, who’s Adrien? Chat Noir?”

Adrien paled at Alya’s joke and looked terrified at the thought of Marinette and Juleka actually guessing he was Chat Noir.

“Nah, he’s obviously Ladybug”

“WHAT?”

“Well, obviously, he’s a model, so he’s comfortable with his body, we know the transformations involve magic, and the best way to hide his identity would be to chose a form that would be completely different to how he looks normally, ergo, a blond haired tall boy becomes a black haired short girl.”

Everyone looked at Juleka as if she had grown a second head. Even Marinette seemed interested.

“But Adrien has the hots for Ladybug!”

“NINO!”

“Sorry… but you do”

“A more perfect cover! Having a crush on his other identity would prevent people to make the connection!”

“He does always disappear when there are akuma attacks.”

“I know someone else who also disappears when an akuma ppears” said Juleka, eyeing Marinette, who gulped nervously. “If Adrien is Ladybug, it’s obvious that Nathaniel is Chat Noir”

“WHAT?”

Now it was Lila’s turn to side eye Nathaniel and slide a little away from him. She also landed on her butt.

“He does have the same kind of crush that Chat Noir has on Ladybug”

“Does that mean that Nathaniel and Adrien are destined to be together?”

“WHAT?”

“You cheater! What about Marc?”

“I mean, Marc makes more sense as Ladybug”

“OH, SO I can’t be Ladybug now?”

The bell rang and the class pretty much ignored it. Miss Bustier walked on her class having a very polite and wild discussion. She was going to say something, but something about Adrien and Nathaniel going on a date made her do a double take. She decided to step out of the class and give her students five more minutes.


End file.
